I'm at 905fps with 3.8grs of Unique and a 116gr lfn. No leading, no stretching of brass, no primer problems of backing out. I am going to try one more load 3.9grs of Unique with the 116gr and stop there. 3.8grs if fairly snappy round 3.6grs is a good practive round fairly calm and the Mak really like it. I would like to try 3.9grs to have as a carry load I thing the speed would be between 925 and 950fps and if no brass or leading problem I will stop there. I put the heaviest recoil spring in the Makarov 22#, polished the feed ramp and it feeds and extracts well. The ME at 925 would be around 220 and the ME at 950 would be around 232lbs. With a 116gr bullet the penetration out to be awesome. After I get the final results of the 3.9 Unique I will do some pentration tests.

fknipfer1

US Army Veteran
NRA Life Member 1965
Am not a collector more of an accumlator

surf, you should have no problem using the 93 grain bullets. You're looking at only a few grains difference in the bullet weight. If anything, your "lighter" bullet will only travel a bit faster but probably nothing to make a whole lot of difference. FWIW.

I finally got some powder. Unique to be exact. I will be loading 109 gr lead flat tip bullets along with 95gr. XTP. I was thinking around 3.8 grains to 4 for the lead bullets but wasn't sure on the XTP. Any experienced advice in either loading please?

To mark my 9mm MAK cases from 9MM Luger, I lightly touch the word LUGER with my Dremel tool cut off wheel. Have done the same for my 25-06 cases made from 270 (except touch the 270 part) for years.
As I do not like round nose bullets as a personal preference. Several years ago I modified a 358 sizer die to 366. Then I modified another sizer die to flatten the nose of the military round nose bullets to resemble the original 45 Long Colt bullet. Make the metaplate as large as will feed in your particular gun. They shoot very well. Berry's plated bullets are easier to modify and seem to shoot better than the modified military bullets.
Last week I received a 107 grain 358 diameter Lee bullet mold. I then modified drill bit to a reduced 366.5 diameter. I then used the 366.5 diameter drill to modify the bottom two 'driving bands' on the mold. Such modified bullets case out at 100.1 grains (wheel weight metal). When I get time to go to the range I will report the results.

daven wrote:Why go through the hassle of 9 x 19 to 9 x 18 when Starline sell the brass for 9 x 18 Mak? Have around a 1000 cases purchased direct from Starline (they cover shipping costs) and they do not wear out. Daven

Starline wants 87.50 for 500 rounds of Makarov (9x18) brass. That's $ .18 a round for brass! I can buy ammo for $.23 a round all day long! I can buy Luger brass for $12.00 for 500. At that price for brass ($.18 a round) I can't afford to reload.

if you go to the range you can sweep up 9mm brass for nothing ,
and use that ,
it cost me what ever the cost for a primer is to load it ,I have 16 lbs of Unique that a friend of mine gave me about 6 years ago ,
I don't bother marking my brass ever try to resize a 9 x 18 case in a 9mm die you will know the difference
did buy a new mould , http://www.accuratemolds.com/bullet_det ... 100S-D.png

I don't know if anyone has read my post looking for Makarov brass but I checked out starline and they want $87.50 for 500 rounds of Makarov brass. I don't know about anyone ealse but I can't see the advantages of paying $.18 a round for brass. Maybe if I was shooting competition with my Makarov or P64 I might consider it. But certainly not for range fotter. I like shooting my p64 and my Makarov and I don't have a lot of spare cash. I'm disabled and on a fixed income and I got into reloading again after a 25 year hiatus. I guess I got a little spoiled I found a clearance at field & stream 50 rounds of blazer Makarov aluminum cased ammo for $7.97 a box. It was local so no shipping. I currently have 1000 rounds left. When ever anyone asked what I wanted for xmass I sent them to field & stream. I just wish it was at least steel cased boxer primed at least I could reload it once with lite to medium loads. What I do have is over 5000 9x19 9mm Luger cases range brass and counting. I can get the lee trimmer with the Makarov trimming dies for about $ 50.00 and make as many Makarov cases I want. That's what I'm going to do.
Norm I want to personally thank you for the help you have given myself and others. You truly are a wealth of knowledge when it come to these guns and you always seem more than willing to share with others in need.
As I am posting this it occurs to me I probably have more brass than I need. Besides the 9 Luger I also have quite a bit of 40, some 38s, 357, and I just gave my nephew 500 rounds of 45 acp but I will have more this week. I'm not really looking to sell my brass but if someone is in need I'd be willing to trade for something. If someone is in need feel free to send me a pm. I wouldn't mind a spare mag fo my p64. Or even a set of the original grips for the same. It really doesn't matter what, I'm really just willing to help if someone is in need of brass. At any rate once I'm set up to trim and reload Makarov ammo, I will definitely heed the advise about powder and loads given here. Thanks again and let me know if I can help

thanks for the kind words ,
and if I can help you with any thing please PM me, or you can email me , or call me my email address and phone Number is all over this site ,
I'm pretty much retired now , as of reloading tools my lyman trimmer, I bought it used a little over 35 years ago for about $25.00 its still going strong , it pays to buy good equipment ,used or new , I prefer to buy used use stuff that I can rebuild , I'am a cheap (SOB )
or some one else can help you , this has been one of the best forums on the Internet, and the guys on here have been best ,

for all you Tokarev fans , out there , you can take 223 brass and make cases out of them,